Perry: From 'stay tuned' to all in

The campaign of Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- which finally can be dubbed as such -- officially begins on Saturday, when the Texas governor is expected to announce in primary state South Carolina that he's running for president.

Like several of his GOP rivals have done during this now-full-blown 2012 contest, the Perry team's piecemeal revelations to the press allowed the Texas governor receive numerous bites of the proverbial media taco.

On Monday, reporters found themselves chasing a Politico report indicating that Perry would "make his intentions clear" in South Carolina on Saturday. On Thursday morning, they combed over the text of an interview Perry did with Time magazine, in which he indicated that the turning point in his decision-making process occurred "about 45 days ago."

Reporters' inquiries to Perry's team about the precise details of how that decision would be revealed were met with urgings to "stay tuned."

But mere hours before a major GOP debate in Iowa -- where Perry is scheduled to travel on Sunday and Monday -- all doubt was finally put to rest with confirmation that Perry is in fact all in, as was already apparent from his three-day primary state swing this weekend.

The announcement ensures that the Texas governor, who is not participating in the Ames Iowa debate or straw poll contest, will nonetheless have a prominent presence in both events.